Original Post Date: July 3, 2024 Source: NYT Wirecutter Read the full article here
Whether you’re a longtime electric vehicle owner or you’re still waiting for your first EV to leave the factory floor, you should consider investing in a Level 2 charger for your home.
Most modern EVs ship with a Level 1 charger—these tend to be small, portable, and slow-charging, thanks to their 120-volt output. But the fastest way to juice up an EV at home is to use a 240-volt Level 2 charger, adding four or more times as many miles per hour of charge.
They’re also more likely to have premium features, such as a power cord that’s long enough to reach across a two-car garage or a wide variety of installation options.
After 28 hours of research and 85 hours of testing, we found theUnited Chargers Grizzl-Eto be the best at-home charger for EVs with aJ1772port, whereas theTesla Wall Connectoris best for EVs with aJ3400connector (also called the North American Charging Standard, or NACS).
In the US, the vast majority of EV owners drive Teslas, which have a J3400 charging port. Most other car companies have committed to implementing the J3400 connector in future EVs, though many of their existing EVs use the longstanding J1772 connector. For this guide, we chose to focus on chargers that are compatible with either a J1772 or a J3400 connector, as well as adapters that can convert one type of plug to the other.
Despite costing less than any other J1772 EV charger in our testing pool at this writing, theUnited Chargers Grizzl-Eoffers many of the same capabilities and features seen in pricier models. It’s rated for a maximum current of 40 A, which we were able to reproduce in our testing, allowing it to charge much faster than the Level 1 chargers that come with most EVs. The three-year warranty is as long as any we’ve seen, so you’ll have plenty of time to make sure the charger works properly and meets your needs.
It’s available in two plug-in configurations and can also be hardwired, whereas many of the models we tested have just one or two installation options. This charger is also fairly compact, so it won’t take up much garage space, and it’s lightweight enough to lift into a trunk or mount onto a wall with relative ease. Also, it has a long, slim cord that can be neatly wound around the included cable organizer.
If you’d like the option of installing your charger outside, the Grizzl-E has the most weatherproof exterior of any we tested, with a rating that shows it can shield the charger from superficial dirt, dust, oils, moisture, and even heavy rain or snow. It’s also rated to operate safely in temperatures between -22° to 122° Fahrenheit, and its plug has a protective rubber cap.
Our main gripes with this model are that its packaging isn’t especially protective, so we worry that it could be more easily damaged in transit, and its painted metal exterior attracts fingerprints and smudges more than most models we tested. But in light of the Grizzl-E’s other great qualities, we think the majority of people will overlook these minor quibbles.
Max current rating:40 A Weatherproof rating:IP67 (fully dustproof and waterproof) Installation options:three (hardwire, NEMA 14-50 plug, NEMA 6-50 plug) Warranty:three years
Not surprisingly, our testing showed that the best charger for a Tesla EV is Tesla’s flagship charger, theTesla Wall Connector. It’s not our top pick for all drivers, because connecting it to a J1772 EV requires a pricey third-party adapter that isn’t designed for everyday use. (Plus, since Tesla sellsmore EVs than the other car companies combined, its chargers are in high demand and often out of stock.) But if you drive a Tesla, or you’re planning to buy an EV with a J3400 port, it’s the best option available with that type of connector. Its maximum current rating of 48 A is among the highest of those we tested, and at this writing its price is one of the lowest.
The Tesla Wall Connector is even slimmer and lighter than the Grizzl-E. It has a super-sleek look, and it’s backed by Tesla’s two-year warranty. This charger has a 24-foot cord, just like the Grizzl-E, and its built-in cable organizer is elegantly designed. It’s not quite as weatherized as our J1772 pick, but it’s still rated to provide ample protection against dirt, dust, oils, splashes and sprays of water, and temperatures between -22° to 122° Fahrenheit.
The biggest downside to this charger is that it lacks plug-in options, so you have to hardwire it into your home’s electrical system. That’s less convenient if you want to be able to move your charger without calling an electrician. But since hardwiring isgenerally preferableto plug-in installation anyway, we don’t consider this a fatal flaw.
Max current rating:48 A Weatherproof rating:IP55 (highly dustproof and waterproof) Installation options:one (hardwire) Warranty:two years
Why you should trust us
I’ve been a science writer for more than a decade, covering a wide variety of topics from particle physics to satellite remote sensing. Since joining Wirecutter in 2017, I’ve reported onsurge protectors,rechargeable batteries,power banks, and more.
I interviewed Paul Vosper, former CEO ofJuiceBar(a manufacturer of commercial EV charging stations from 2009 to 2022), about the history of the EV charging industry.
To learn about installing an EV charger in a private home or an apartment building, I spoke with Tracy Price, founder ofQmerit, and Caradoc Ehrenhalt, CEO ofEV Safe Charge.
To better understand the needs of EV drivers, I interviewed Joe Flores, deputy director at the nonprofit electricity providerSan José Clean Energy; Suncheth Bhat, former director of clean energy transportation forPacific Gas and Electric (PG&E); and Aaron August, PG&E’s former vice president of utility partnerships and innovation.
Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of anybusiness implicationsof my editorial recommendations. Read more about oureditorial standards.
Who this is for
Whether you’re in the process of buying an EV and want the fastest possible at-home charge, or you already own an EV and want to upgrade a sluggish Level 1 charger to a speedier Level 2 charger, this guide is for you.
EV drivers have widely varying lifestyles, needs, and priorities, but having a powerful EV charger at home will likely be a worthwhile investment in most cases. Per theU.S. Department of Transportation, a Level 1 charger can take days (40 to 50 hours) to charge an EV battery from empty to full, whereas a Level 2 charger can complete the same task in just four to 10 hours. Even if you don’t put many miles on your car, and topping off the battery overnight works for you most of the time, you still might want to have a charger at home that lets you juice up quickly in the event of a wildfire, flash flood, or other unforeseen disaster.
In addition to faster charging times, Level 2 chargers often come with features you might not get from the charger that came with your EV, such as:
the option to hardwire the charger directly into your home’s electrical grid
a long cord that can reach across a two-car garage or carport
a smartphone app that supplements your EV’s app to track battery life, charge times, and more
a weatherproof enclosure to add protection from elements
As is true of any home-improvement project, upgrading your EV charging setup will come at a cost. In addition to the sticker price of the charger, you’ll likely payaround $400 to $1,200to have it professionally installed. You can circumvent some of these installation costs by buying a plug-in model, but if you don’t already have a 240 V outlet installed at your parking spot (they’re typically used for RVs or electric stovetops, among other things), you’ll still need to spend at leasta few hundred dollarsto take advantage of the Level 2 charger’s higher current. The silver lining here is that to help recoup the costs of going electric, manyfederal,state, andregionalprograms offer rebates and other incentives.
If you rent your home, and you’re unsure whether your rental agreement allows you to install a Level 2 charger, checkyour state’s “right to charge” laws. Likewise, if you own ahomeorrental property, the U.S. Department of Energy has a trove of resources on installing EV chargers.
How we picked and tested
To find the most well-known and widely available makers of Level 2 EV chargers, we searched the websites of major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, as well as industry publications such as Car and Driver, CleanTechnica, Electrek, and InsideEVs. From there, we built a list of contenders based on the following features:
Costs less than $2,000:Most chargers we considered cost $1,000 or less, but we were open to pricier options with extra features. The annual savings from switching to electric will vary depending on your driving habits, the type of car you drive, fuel costs, and a variety of other factors. But whether you spend $500 or $2,000, your EV is likely to pay for the cost of your charger in less than a year. According to aAAA study, in 2022, powering the average EV would cost$2,100 less per yearthan fueling a traditional car. And that doesn’t even include the reduction inmaintenancecosts. (You can see how your car stacks up using anonline calculatorfrom the U.S. Department of Energy.)
Has at least a 32 A maximum current rating:To provide the fastest possible at-home charge,Level 2 chargersrun off a 240 V circuit, passing between 16 to 80 A of current to your vehicle. Since most EVs come with a portableLevel 1charger capable oftrickle charging up to 32 Afrom a standard 120 V outlet, we made that our cutoff.
Has at least a 20-foot cord:Longer cords tend to be thicker and more unwieldy than shorter ones, but a lengthy cord is critical for an EV charger, to ensure it can reach the car’s charging port. Atypical two-car garageis 20 to 24 feet wide, and theNational Electrical Code (NEC)caps cord length at25 feet. So we struck from our testing pool any chargers with a cord shorter than 20 feet.
Has a NEMA 14-50 plug and/or can be hardwired:Hardwiring is generally preferable to a plug-in installation because it creates amore seamless(and therefore more energy-efficient) connection between your home’s wiring and the charger. Hardwiring also offers better protection against the elements and can deliver between 15 A to 60 A to your vehicle, whereas aNEMA 14-50(plug-in) connection can handle only 15 A to 50 A. On the downside, in order to hardwire your charger, you’ll need to have it installed (ideally by a certified electrician). We required each model in our testing pool to have at least one of these installation options, and we preferred those with both. We considered additional plug configurations (such as the less-versatileNEMA 6-50plug, which lacks aneutral wireand is most commonly used for welding equipment) to be nonessential bonuses.
Certified by a reputable testing facility:A seal of approval from anyNationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL)indicates that a product meets rigorous safety and compliance standards. So we required that each charger have a certification from one or more of these organizations.
Has at least a one-year warranty:We think a year is ample time to use your charger on a regular basis and ensure that it’s not a dud.
Has a cord organizer:We preferred that each model in our testing pool included some type of cord organization system, whether it was a simplewall-mounted hookor anelaborate retraction system. Not only does this keep your garage looking tidy, but it helps prevent accidents and damage.
Has positive owner reviews:We ran some of our top contenders through FindOurView, a program that analyzes online user ratings and reviews to highlight common patterns. Some models had an insufficient number of reviews for the software to analyze, but doing this allowed us to identify a few models with consistently reported problems; we then cut those models from our list.
To test the chargers, we rented a 2022Tesla Model Y Long-Range AWDand borrowed a 2021Volkswagen ID.4 Profor a week apiece. The former has a J3400 port, and the latter has a J1772 port, so testing with these EVs allowed us to confirm the chargers’ compatibility with both connector types.
Over the course of two weeks, we drove the cars up and down country roads, circled parking lots, and waited in fast-food drive-through queues to run the batteries down to a 65% charge. We then charged the batteries up to 75% and recorded three key measurements, as reported by the cars’ built-in software: time elapsed (in minutes), battery capacity (in kilowatt-hours, or kWh), and maximum current (in amps, or A).
We ran the majority of our charging tests using a NEMA 14-50 wall outlet, which is rated for 240 V and 50 A. Even though hardwiring offers some well-documented advantages for long-term use, we didn’t think we’d glean any additional insights by hiring an electrician to install and uninstall all 10 chargers for our two-week testing period.
Before getting started, we used aKlein Tools electrical test kitto make sure the voltage and wiring conditions of both outlets were up to snuff (they were). And we used aKill A Watt power meterto verify that its time, capacity, and amperage measurements matched the readings shown on the EVs’ respective display screens (they did).
In addition to these quantitative tests, we spent hours collecting qualitative data. Throughout our two-week testing period, we took stock of the overall look, feel, ease of use, and build quality of the chargers. We also assessed the efficacy and added value of any extra features, such as a mobile app or cord-storage rack. We did the same for the adapters we tested.
The best EV charger for home: United Chargers Grizzl-E